Written Answers Tuesday 30 March 2010

Scottish Executive

Housing

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to assist enforcement action against landlords where direct evidence from tenants is unlikely to be available.

Alex Neil: I established a high level stakeholder group – the Private Rented Strategy Group in September 2009 chaired independently by Professor Douglas Robertson to take forward the conclusions of the Private Rented Sector Review which was published in March 2009. The group’s first task was to take the evidence and submissions, emanating from the review and come forward with a set of proposals for legislative change. It published its report in January 2010 and I have agreed to consult on its recommendations.

  The Consultation on the Proposed Private Housing Bill includes a number of proposals that would assist enforcement action, such as:

  expanding the list of offences to be declared by an applicant for landlord registration;

  allowing a local authority to require a criminal record certificate to verify information;

  requiring the Private Rented Housing Panel to obtain and check landlord registration numbers;

  requiring landlord registration numbers in advertisements of properties to let;

  allowing a local authority to require an agent to provide a list of properties managed;

  allowing tenants and local authorities to claim back rent paid in an unlicensed HMO, and

  providing that failure to provide information when required will lead to the presumption that a property is an HMO.

  In addition, the current Housing (Scotland) Bill includes a power for a local authority to obtain information from people connected with a property e.g. landlord or agent to enable or assist it to exercise its landlord registration function. Failure to comply would be an offence. The bill also increases the maximum fine for acting as an unregistered landlord to £20,000.

NHS Finance

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the initial revenue allocations to NHS Tayside were in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 and are for 2010-11, also expressed in real terms.

Nicola Sturgeon: The initial revenue allocations to NHS Tayside from 2007-08 and the inflation adjusted figures are shown in the following table:

  

 Year
 Initial Allocation £m
 Adjusted Figure £m


2007-08
549.1
587.2


2008-09
566.4
590.8


2009-10
578.6
591.6


2010-11
592.9
592.9



  The adjusted figures are shown at 2010-11 prices.